Book Of Tobit

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The Book of Tobit

The Book of Tobit
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The Book of Tobit

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First Edition 2022

The New Book of Genesis

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Table of Contents

ENERO DUCEION sess caetsstabicsnensaceackssbescaeaesse aie sbastecinasenctussastnesassoossaabonee 1
The Book of Tobit Chapter One o0.....cccceeseesseseeeecseneeeeees 18
The Book of Tobit Chapter TwW0....:..ccscsssscssccsssesssnossessstsseses 23
The Book of Tobit Chapter Three.........0:.c:csssssessssssssosssrssense 20
The Book of ‘Tobit Chapter Four sisciss.sssccseedsesesestdccnsrsnsetesssee 30
The Book of Tobit Chapter Five ...........ccsccssssssssssnsserssssenses 34
The Book of Tobit Chapter Six .......cscsssssessssesssessossesestananee 38
The Book of Tobit Chapter Seven oo... cs cseseseseeeeeeeeneeee 42
The Book of Tobit: Chapter Eight ....::.ccsccssssseessteversveoeerevests 45
The Book of Tobit Chapter Nine .........c..cc:ccsesssrsessessensorsenees 49
The Book of Tobit: Chapter Tetisss:cis:ssiccbesitivecviuaiertiasacdotincnts 50
The Book of Tobit Chapter Eleven... csesecesseeeeeeeneees Se,
The Book of Tobit Chapter TWelve.......cccceceesseeteeeneees 56
The Book of Tobit Chapter Thirteen... cece 60

The Book of Tobit Chapter Fourteen... cies 63

Introduction

The Book of Tobit has been excluded from practically all Bi-
bles we find today. Why is that? Is it that the book was forged?
Was the book not from antiquity? Does it not portray an histori-
cal person? Does it not portray historical events? Does it not por-
tray those who have dedicated their lives to the Supreme Being?

Let’s take a look at these possible reasons and try to figure
out why Tobit was excluded.

The Book of Tobit was written thousands of years ago by an
unknown author, presumably a follower or descendent of Tobit.
The Book of Tobit documents part of the life of two devoted per-
sons, Tobit and Tobin and their relatives and followers. It also
documents the appearance of an angel, Raphael.

The book also documents a period of history during a time
when the city of Nineve was under threat of destruction,
through the activities of some of its citizens.

It also discusses the healing of the blindness of Tobit, as di-
rected by the angel to Tobit’s son Tobin. Along with this, the
book details the marriage of Tobin despite challenging circum-
stances, and how their dedication to God brought them through
these challenges.

These events place the Book of Tobit in the 8 Century B.C.
Some scholars, however, have dated the writing of the Book of
Tobit to the 3"4 Century B.C.

While the early Catholic and Orthodox churches accepted
the Book of Tobit as canonical - meaning it was accepted as an
authorized scriptural text - it was never added to the Bible. So it
was excluded from the Bible but not rejected by the Church Fa-
thers, such as Augustine.

However, the Protestant churches did not accept the text as
part of its Canon. They declared the Book of Tobit as apocrypha.
This means, curiously, that though the Protestants accepted
practically every other Bible book accepted as Canon, they didn’t
accept this one - along with a handful of others. Such a situation
is referred to in Bible scholarship as deuterocanonical. Accepted
by the Fathers and the Early Church, but not by later Protestants.

Early Jewish scholars also did not include the Book of Tobit
in their canonical library of texts. But they did classify it as an
important part of the scriptures, just as the early Church did.

Nonetheless, even Martin Luther accepted the Book of Tobit
as scripture. Luther’s opinion was that even if it was fictional, it
should be read as a devotional work. He stated that even if was
“all made up, then it is indeed a very beautiful, wholesome and
useful fiction or drama by a gifted poet" and that "this book is
useful and good for us Christians to read."

Furthermore, the first Methodist ‘Sunday Service of the
Methodists’ uses verses from the Book of Tobit in its Eucharist.
Indeed, Lutheran Churches and Anglican Churches often quote
from the Book of Tobit.

As alluded to by Luther, the dating of the Book of Tobit to
the 24 or 3'4 Centuries B.C. has led to the suggestion that the
work is fictional. However, there is little evidence to confirm
this. There is an abundance of context and events within the text
to affirm that Tobit was a historical person and his family and
followers were also historical. The question becomes: Why
would someone create a fictional person and family to document
the details of this story? It would seem that a fictional story
would have a greater level of magnitude at least.

Rather, Tobit and his family are hard-working and humbly
devoted persons living within a time of historical significance.
Making up such a story begs relevance.

The reality is that many scriptural scrolls were written and
copied over several centuries, especially from the 6 and 7** Cen-
turies, when many of the scrolls were collected and assembled
into the Torah.

This means that the 3"¢ Century opinion could well be based
upon a copy of an earlier scroll that was later damaged or lost.

The book of Tobit also describes a type of humble dedication
to the Supreme Being, without the need for grandeur or popular-
ity. A dedication that is based on love and humility, and love for
others.

Indeed, if we compare the prayers of Tobit to some of the
prayers of Samuel and David, we find comparable terms and
devotion to God. If this were made up it would be simply amaz-
ing.

Nonetheless, the Book of Tobit was not a part of the Bible,
nor part of the Torah.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the history of the Torah,
and then what we now consider the Bible.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The written Torah was put together during the 6th Century.
This is when the theretofore orally communicated 17 1N
An DAW (Torah Shebe’al Peh - “Torah that is spoken”) was was
seemingly transcribed into Torah Shebichtav 17 1N DyaAw n9
(Torah Shebichtav - “Torah that is written”).

The five books of the Torah - which Genesis, “Bereshit” was
the first - were eventually combined into a single “Hebrew Bi-
ble” now called the Tanakh.

The reality is there was a myriad of oral and written teach-
ings that had been circulating prior to the Torah. There were
multiple lineages and schools that had developed by the 6th
Century BCE. And each wanted their input into any overarching
text.

It is important to distinguish these parts of the texts from the
devotional teachings that had been handed down orally for cen-
turies through this teachings lineage prior to being put to writ-
ing in the 6th Century BCE.

It has been claimed that the Torah was first written by
Moses. But this is not completely supported by the empirical
record. Rather, what Moses appears to have written down
equates to the Ten Commandments. They were apparently writ-
ten onto stone tablets that were placed beside the Ark of the
Covenant.

Other critical lessons now contained in the scriptures were
orally taught by Moses, which were eventually passed on by
Joshua, one of Moses’ students.

The reality is that much of the Torah scrolls were put into
written form just during and just following a period when
Judean tribes were forced into exile in Babylon between 586 and
538 BCE. These events along with other struggles for control
over lands with Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, led to
the strong incentives for suggesting that God granted certain
lands to those within a certain ancestry.

This leads to the understanding that including certain texts
into the Torah became a political tool to invest the interests of
differing tribes and schools during a time when there was a
struggle for legitimacy and survival among competing factions.

This competition for inclusion means that the interests of
those scrolls that did not have a seat at the negotiating table dur-
ing the inclusion decisions were left out of the process. This
would perfectly describe Tobit and his following, who had not
accumulated a strong

The bottom line is that despite its formatting as a single text,
scholars have confirmed that the Bible is not really a book.
Rather, it is a compilation of books that were included due to the
strength of those particular Tribes of Israel and their followings
and armies.

Indeed, many parts of the scrolls included in the Torah are a
collection of oral teachings from multiple lineages that passed
down their teachings from one generation to the next for many
centuries. But as these various teachings were combined, there
were many additions as well. These covered the range, from
patching the works together to adding new literal statements
and making commentary as mentioned.

This view has become widely accepted by scholars over the
past two centuries. The texts themselves illustrate that the books
of the Torah were written well after Moses had passed.

We can, for example, consider Genesis 12:6 and others that
indicate a recording of critcal elements of the Torah centuries
after the events were taught, centuries after Moses’ lifetime.

The consensus of scholars has been that the Torah was com-
bined from at least four main sources and before being redacted
into a single version. The sources have been described as Yah-
wist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly writers.

This Documentary hypothesis states the Yahwist source
comes from Southern Judah, the Elohist source from Northern
Israel, the Deuteronomist from Jerusalem and the Priestly source
from Babylon. This Documentary hypothesis holds that the texts
had individual lineages, each accompanied by manuscripts that
were pieced together to form what is referred to as the Torah.

Others believe there were many other sources. Recent schol-
ars contend that Genesis alone is the compilation of no less than
nineteen different manuscripts - many disconnected with each
other.

This understanding gradually came about as the Torah texts
themselves were analyzed, and three commanding theories of its
composition rose to the forefront by scholars:

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

- The Documentary: The Torah was a compilation of separate
and complete written manuscripts.

- The Supplementary: An original work that was later sup-
plemented with various additions and deletions.

- The Fragmentary: The Torah is a compilation of fragments
of different teachings and scrolls.

These views, taken from the evidence of the texts themselves,
have offered rational explanations for the various duplications,
schisms and irregularities present among the texts of the Torah
in terms of timeline, context, history, and language.

Some more recent scholars have contended that the evidence
presents that the Torah is a combination of all three - it contains
some complete manuscripts; was supplemented with additions
and deletions; and also contains various fragments of other
manuscripts.

The essence here is that practically every Biblical scholar ac-
cepts that the books of the Torah is a compilation of a variety of
collected manuscripts and fragments that were transcribed, and
after negotiations between the Tribes of Judah and the Tribes of
what is now considered Southern Israel, they were mashed to-
gether and presented as a single document. This followed with
later additions and deletions as the document was further tran-
scribed over the next couple of centuries.

In addition, these transcriptions were subjected to literary
manipulation by 6th Century scribes to appease the Persians,
and those in positions of authority who sought to maintain their
authority and land ownership following the Israelites having
been exiled from their territories by the Babylonians.

This manipulation resulted in, among other things, the claim
that Abraham’s family had been awarded certain Middle Eastern
lands by God. It also meant defining a priestly order based upon
ancestry instead of teaching lineage as had been the practice for
thousands of years, following the teaching succession of Moses
by Joshua, who was not a family member.

Defining a priestly class and a landowner class was also a re-
quirement of the Persians’ release of the Israelites, who were
exiled by the Babylonians after they conquered Judea.

The Persians, who were victorious over the Babylonians,
gave the Israelites their freedom to return to their homeland.

Before their release, the Persians wanted the Israelites to
show they could govern themselves and provide some written
law.

This provided at least some of the motivation for the re-
cording of at least some of the Torah. The Israelites provided a
historical basis for many of the rules and rituals that were prac-
ticed at the time by the Israelites. These included burnt offerings,
circumcision and of course the Ten Commandments.

The oral teachings of the Torah, which include teachings
now making up Genesis, were thus incorporated with certain
legends and myths that provided substantiation for the adoption
of primary rituals and land rights.

During this passage of the oral information over the centu-
ries, according to the time, circumstance and society, naturally
much of the Hebrew teachings assumed an allegorical quality.
This allegorical quality conferred moral and devotional lessons
upon the audience as it was passed on from generation to gen-
eration.

This oral tradition was a possible reason the written version
of the Book of Tobit was not readily available until the 3"4 Cen-
tury B.C.

At the same time, some of these oral teachings also accom-
modated many societal issues prevalent during those times. Of
prime importance was the feudal tribal nature of nomadic
Judean tribes, who suffered from forced displacement and war-
fare from place to place. These tribes valued the ability to control
certain territorial lands, as this was vital to their survival.

As a result we find in transcriptions of these texts included
awkward verses of granting certain lands, ostensibly by the Su-
preme Being. As if the Almighty Creator and Supreme God
would need to repeatedly make appearances to Abraham, Jacob
and other family members in order to reiterate that God had
exclusively given their family practically all the lands of the
Middle East in perpetuity?

We can factually prove a literal interpretation of such verses
false. First by the reality that much of those lands are now
owned by a myriad of other governmental agencies and private
parties other than Abraham’s family.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

If God truly granted these lands to Abraham and his family
in perpetuity, this would suggest that God wasn’t able to guar-
antee the family’s continued ownership. This would imply that
God wasn’t really in control of the lands as promised by those
verses. Such an implication would negate the entire thesis of
Genesis and the other Books of the Bible regarding the omnis-
cience of God.

Or it would indicate that those verses themselves were ma-
nipulated by those who sought to use scripture to underwrite
control over certain lands to certain people.

When taken in totality, we find many verses in Genesis and
other parts of the Torah allowed scribes authorized by tribal
lords to convey political authority and dominance for their par-
ticular tribe and leaders.

It must be remembered that those scribes that put these texts
into writing performed their work under the supervision and
employment of their tribal leaders. This naturally led to a power-
ful Temple institution that flexed control over the region in the
centuries after the Persians allowed the Israelites to return to
their homeland.

This resulting Temple institution grew stronger and more
fanatical over the centuries, until the Romans conquered them.

Following the persecution of Jesus and the century-long Jew-
ish-Roman Wars, the Roman government dominated Judea with
an iron fist. The Temple institution no longer had governmental
authority, but they still flexed their power over the people
through the Temple system.

After the Jewish-Roman wars, the Romans sought to erase
the Jewish religious system by amalgamating the Jewish texts
into a neo-Christian philosophy.

As a result, during the Fourth Century A.D., the Roman Em-
peror Constantine contracted with Eusebius to have selected
books from the Judean scriptures combined with selected Chris-
tian texts to form what would become the first Bible.

To summarize this complicated process, Eusebius’ work to
assemble the first Bible was driven by a desire to organize and
control the religious nature of the people within what was then

known as the Roman Empire, into one cohesive religion that
could be controlled from Rome.

Following Constantine’s order, Eusebius hired professional
translators and transcribers who oversaw the translation (and
thus interpretation) of varying texts from Greek, Arabic and He-
brew languages, into Latin. This Latin translation provided the
foundation for the future interpretation of the Bible, which was
translated into English many centuries later.

The Book of Genesis was arranged into the first book of this
commissioned manuscript now called the Bible, inferring the
literal creation history.

After the early Bible’s manuscripts were selected, translated
into Latin and assembled into the Bible, the Roman Empire and
its surrogate Church systematically burned and destroyed any
library that included books outside of those selected for the Bible
or otherwise were “approved” by Church fathers. Some were
quarantined within the Church's library in Rome; others were
burnt, never to be found.

The Church also systematically squelched any alternative in-
terpretations of Genesis and the creation, such as those that were
taught amongst the Gnostics for centuries.

The Gnostics were practically driven out of existence. Their
villages were burnt, their teachers were murdered, and their
libraries of manuscripts were destroyed. This activity - of forci-
bly removing ‘heretics’ for their alternative interpretations of
scripture - continued for over a thousand years among the
Church and its proxies.

As far as the texts themselves, the Romans kept a tight lid on
alternative interpretations or translations. For centuries, the
Latin Bible was the only Bible allowed to be read, and only the
priests and Church officials had access to a Latin Bible. The rest
of the people among the regions controlled by the Roman Catho-
lic Church and its surrogates had no direct access to scripture.

Common people could only hear its Latin from the priests,
who also controlled its literal interpretation. This was the status
quo for many centuries until parts of the Bible was (illegally ac-
cording to the Church) translated into English and other lan-
guages. The first complete English Bible - translated from the
Latin Bible - came into being during the 14th Century - more
than a thousand years after Eusebius’ Latin Bible.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

And even then, John Wycliffe, the English Bible’s translator,
was declared a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. By the
command of the Church and its Pope Martin V, his Biblical texts
were ordered to be burnt, and his then-dead body was exhumed
and burnt, and his ashes were thrown into a river.

This “scorched earth’ policy of virtually eliminating any and
all interpretations of Genesis and other parts of the scriptures
outside of those approved by the Church and Roman Empire
created a single literal interpretation of the Biblical scriptures
throughout all of the Holy Roman Empire for thousands of
years. Most of this interpretation is still accepted today by mod-
ern sects of Christianity.

The bottom line is these texts, originally passed down orally
from one generation to the next by devoted teachers now called
Prophets, underwent a cascade of manipulation over the centu-
ries by those who sought to use these texts to maintain power
and authority over certain societies.

Meanwhile, the oral teachings traveled history in parallel
through a lineage of prophets. These prophets include Adam,
Seth, Enos, Cainen, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah,
Lamech, Noah, Shem, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Lot, Jacob,
Joseph, Ephraim, Elias/Esaias, Gad, and later, Samuel, Jeremy,
Jeremiah, Elihu, Moses, Joshua, Balaam, Samuel, Nathan, David,
Ahijah, Jahaziel, Elijah, Malachi, Elisha, Job, Joel, Jonah, Amos,
Hosea, Isaiah, Oded, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Ha-
bakkuk, Obadiah, Daniel, Zechariah, Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah
and Malachi.

We can now also include Tobit and his followers as part of
this lineage as well.

Most of these prophets are documented in one way or an-
other among Old Testament texts. But for each of these there are
many others. These include Enoch, Zenock, Ezias, Iddo, Jehu,
Nathan, Zenos Neum, Shemaiah and many others.

It was this great lineage of teachers that Jesus belonged to, as
a devoted student of John the Baptist, who was a devoted stu-
dent of Zachariah, also a former devoted student within the line-
age that included Isaiah, Solomon, David, Samuel, Eli, Joshua,
Moses, Jacob, Abraham, Melchizedek and Noah.

This rich oral tradition also meant that the sometimes alle-
gorical lessons of the Torah also accompanied the interpretation
of the priest - who pledged their devotion to the Supreme Being.
Sometimes the teacher was also the father of the student. This
was more the case during earlier times, but was also seen later,
as family members were sometimes teachers and students. We
can cite Jesus and his brother James, who was a student of Jesus.

We can piece together the nature of this passing of informa-
tion as we examine some of the student-teacher relationships
that existed between Melchizedek and Abraham; Abraham and
Lot; Moses and Joshua; Eli and Samuel; Samuel and Saul; Saul
and David; David and Solomon and many others. It is also illus-
trated by Jesus’ relationship with his teacher John the Baptist, as
well as Jesus’ relationships with his own disciples, whom Jesus
instructed to also go out and pass on what he taught them to
others.

This passing of the teachings of love for God eventually be-
came subjected to territorialism as the Torah was transcribed
from Torah Shebe’al Peh to Torah Shebichtav and then trans-
lated to Latin and then to other languages over the past few cen-
turies.

The texts of the Torah cannot be isolated from the environ-
ment and society of their times. This region was brimming with
strife with warfare between feuding empires of Babylonia, Ca-
naan, Rome, Assyria, Judah, Egypt, and surrounding regions.
Struggles for land and territory were rampant, and the implica-
tion of authority from the Supreme proved to be more than a
political necessity: It was an issue of survival.

Then of course we find the Israelites were conquered by the
Babylonians and exiled. When the Persians were victorious over
the Babylonians they released Israelites, but only after the Israel-
ites provided proof they had a written law in order to govern
their people.

In the centuries that followed, territorial struggles continued,
and the formation of the Torah gained additional substance with
the writings of Ezra in the Fifth Century BCE. After the rebuild-
ing of Jerusalem under the Persian ruler Artaxerxes, Ezra led a
formation of a separated assembly of Israelites committed to
following Moses’ law.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The successive assemblies following Ezra took a drastic sec-
tarian turn over the next centuries, as priestly struggles merged
with struggles for territorial rights, and the assemblies became
increasingly political.

The Torah’s interpretations continued to be modified over
the next five centuries as Israelite high priests formed rigid sec-
tarian order over their assemblies. The rule of law became tan-
tamount and the five books of the Torah were considered the
constitution of the Israelite people, and the priests were their
governors. That is, until the Romans conquered Jerusalem.

The necessity of a succession of rulers through this period
produced political alliances between certain priests and the vari-
ous kings of Judah. This drove the recognition of the Israelite
assembly as a separate race of people and allowed the high
priests to become ex-facto governors.

This politically driven succession of high priests became in-
creasingly power-savvy over the centuries, as evidenced by the
teachings of Jesus. We find that by the time of Jesus’ arrival, the
institutional temples and its priesthood had depreciated the im-
portance of the teachings of devotion that had been passed
down orally over the centuries from teacher to student.

This was characterized by Jesus, who condemned the nature
and hierarchy of the institutional priesthood.

These devotional principles took second fiddle by the politics
of necessity, as literal interpretations of the “promised land”
and the “chosen people” of Judah and Israel became further mis-
construed.

Jesus’ teachings identified the two primary orders among the
institutional temples - the Sadducees and the Pharisees - as fo-
cused upon retaining their politically oriented positions of
“teachers of the law” over the passing down of the teachings of
devotional Judaism.

Jesus vehemently criticized these two groups as misleading
the people and abandoning the original precepts of the teachings
of the Torah - which he emphasized were grounded upon the
“first and foremost commandment” of Moses to love God.

This teaching, we find from biblical texts, had been passed
through a devotional lineage that included John the Baptist and

Zachariah, John’s teacher and traced back through the centuries.
Many historians have shown that the Essenes - a priestly order
that rejected the political ambitions of the mainstream priestly
order - were also a vehicle for part of this lineage of teachers.

We find within these histories a repeating lesson: That the
teachings of the Supreme Being handed down from teacher to
student can at any point in time can become perverted as the
burdens of power struggles overwhelm our devotional natures.

History has taught us that even scripture can be subjected to
alteration during times of challenge, depending upon the objec-
tives and mission of those institutions that bear the responsibil-
ity for carrying those teachings forward into future times.

As a result, we find that out of the thousands of scriptural
manuscripts and scrolls passed down for centuries by early Isra-
elite and Christian teachers, only the politically-selected books of
the Bible and a limited collection of mostly tattered manuscripts
found buried in the desert or hidden within the Church’s secret
library remain.

However, those books found in the desert - now called the
Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi texts - provide clear
evidence that these institutions systematically eliminated many
manuscripts as well as alternative interpretations.

We also find clear evidence that some of the texts that made
it into the Latin Bible were manipulated with respect to their
translation and inclusion. Yes, inclusion: This means that some
texts were removed while some were added.

Then we have creative manipulations, such as placing the
Book of Revelation as the last book of the Bible though it was not
the last to be written. This was conveniently done because of the
last verse of this Book that condemn adding or taking away any-
thing in the Book of Revelation.

Putting this book last in the Bible, however, gives the reader
the impression that nothing can thenceforth be added or taken
away from the entire Bible - even though the writer of the Book
of Revelation was referring solely to the Book of Revelation.

Such slick publishing decisions expose a larger conspiracy to
utilize the Bible to control the populace. And this is exactly what
occurred in the centuries to come at the hands of the Roman
Empire and their surrogate Roman Catholic Church.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The bottom line is that the canon - the arrangement of the
Books of the Bible - and the insertion and depletion of particular
verses and words, were orchestrated as part of an overall objec-
tive to put forth the impression that Christianity (inclusive of
early Judaism) was the original and only valid religious institu-
tion.

Unfortunately, these sorts of actions mean the Bible and the
Torah have become tainted by politics and the quest for institu-
tional power over the centuries.

This doesn’t mean they do not contain the Truth, however.

Over the centuries, a few other Biblical-like texts have sur-
faced in addition to the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Greek
Septuagint and the Arabic Peshitta. The Septuagint arose
through the translation of the Rabbinical texts originally put to-
gether by Origen (who was later rejected as heretical by the
Church), though its current form has been altered through the
centuries.

The Peshitta, which also contained some manuscripts alter-
native to the Bible, to some degree escaped destruction by the
Romans - although it is not clear to what degree or at what
stage.

What all this indicates is evidence that the many scriptural
mistranslations and misinterpretations have been orchestrated
continuously by different sectarian institutions over the centu-
ries. These orchestrations have no relation to each other outside
having a common goal of gaining and/or maintaining power
over people and societies of their times.

This strategy, common among so many governments of an-
cient times to the middles ages, has been to utilize what is held
dear to most common people - the worship of a Supreme Being.

Since scripture has been held in the highest esteem by de-
voted societies, it is quite easy for those in positions of power to
manipulate those scriptures and the institutions that distribute
them in ways that maintain their positions of power.

The historical record clearly indicates a lack of separation be-
tween early religious societies and their governments. This has
led to kings and tyrants who controlled scriptures for holy pur-
poses or the purposes of retaining power.

This is why, for example, the “kings of Israel” are often con-
fused with the “prophets of Israel.” This makes obvious the lack
of separation between religious belief and the government rule.

This separation of church and state doctrine, as it is called
today, is a hallmark of Western democracy. This doctrine as-
sumes each of us has a freedom to worship or not worship in
any manner we so choose individually, and the government
cannot (or should not) dictate that.

This of course reflects the very freedom of worship that God
gives each of us. No one can be forced to love God.

Contrasting this, most of the societies of the Judeo-Roman
era back to the era of Abraham and the Pharaohs of Egypt were
based on the notion that a single person - the Emperor or King -
ruled that particular society or territory, and thus represented
God. This meant that any religious institution and its leaders had
to be authorized or controlled by that particular Emperor or
King.

This emperor-feudal system of government had all the hall-
marks of no freedom of religious thought. The king or emperor
had all the power, and the common people had no power over
their choice of religion and manner of worship.

Unfortunately, this type of governmental system (emperor-
feudal) maintained power over societies in the Mediterranean,
Middle East, Europe and Asia with very few exceptions (such as
the Greeks) during the formative years of the texts that were
combined to eventually make up the Torah, the Tanakh and the
Old Testament inclusive of the Book of Genesis.

Good or bad, this emperor-feudal system of government util-
ized and enforced those scriptures to create authority and hold
onto power.

It is this utilization of forced authority over these scriptures
that has produced some of the gross misunderstandings among
many of the texts of today’s Bible, including Genesis.

This forced authority continues today, albeit in another form,
as various religious institutions enforce the use of certain texts
and interpretations on their followers under the threat of ex-
communication.

Even with the rise of the ‘separation of church and state’ doc-
trine, these institutions continue to flex their authority through

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

the underwriting of particular versions and translations of the
scriptures.

Even if people of today’s societies have the freedom to accept
a particular version of scripture or not, the leaders of these sec-
tarian institutions wield authority through the power to excom-
municate followers.

Today instead of imprisonment and/or punishment by
death, those who dare to accept a different version and interpre-
tation of the scriptures become ostracized and humiliated in the
court of public opinion within these institutions that control reli-
gious thought in modern society. They become, in the phraseol-
ogy of cults, “shunned.”

In order to accomplish this enforcement, each Judeo-
Christian sect has underwritten particular versions and interpre-
tations among the Biblical or Torah texts.

Many of the strongest Christian sects utilize the remnant au-
thority of the Roman Catholic church and the Holy Roman Em-
pire. This is enforced through the acceptance of the Nicene
Creed doctrine originally put forth and forcefully indoctrinated
by the early Roman Catholic Church.

Among the Israelite sects we find the narrative and scriptural
interpretation mostly controlled by the Orthodox Jewish institu-
tion, more loosely followed by secular Jewish institutions of to-
day.

These institutions have become quasi governmental and po-
licing organizations, as they enforce their interpretations upon
those who seek the acceptance of their peers and family mem-
bers who are followers.

It is these structures today that are responsible for the forced
authority of those ancient rulers and emperors that utilized
scripture to maintain power over the people of their time.

Today’s scriptural versions, interpretations and translations
serve to maintain the authority of those leaders of individual
institutions, who continue to rule over their followers much as
the emperors before them utilized scripture to rule over their
populaces. The primary difference lies in their means of control
and whether they are able to utilize violence to enforce their au-
thority over their followers.

Despite this, the fact that these texts survived in some form
through all those political efforts is a testament to the Supreme
Being’s ability to ultimately provide us with a source of spiritual
information, even while shrouding its true meaning from those
that wish to abuse it.

This of course has provided the purpose and the mission for
those who over the centuries who have worked to counter the
misinterpretation and abuse of scriptural texts.

This also gives testament to the undercurrent of confidential
knowledge that has continued to quietly be passed from serious
teacher to serious student through the centuries, insulated from
the abuses and misinterpretations by the various emperors and
religious leaders through their surrogate clergies.

This is “confidential” not because the information is secret. It
is confidential because it is understood only by those who are
serious about learning the real lessons of spiritual life, and by
those willing to pass those lessons on to the next generation.

This is not a new concept. We can see the importance of
spiritual mentorship throughout the centuries. We find even
during times when religious thought was controlled by emper-
ors and tyrants that some were willing to risk their lives to un-
derstand the Truth and pass that Truth on to the next generation.

This is of course one of the true lessons of the Old and New
Testaments - the testaments of so many who stood up to the
enforcers who controlled the status quo.

It is this backbone of courage that provides lessons behind
those who were persecuted for their teachings by those kings
and emperors who dominated their eras. These include prophets
such as Elijah, Zechariah, Micaiah, Amos, Hanani, Uriah, Joseph,
John the Baptist, Jesus, James, Peter, Andrew, Thomas, Philip
and so many others through modern times.

Together with those who followed Jesus, this lineage of
prophets and teachers has continued to pass on the teachings of
devotion to the Supreme Being, often despite the forces of insti-
tutions and tyrants of their times.

The translation of these ‘alternate’ books of the Bible gives
the reader an opportunity to better understand the devotional
context of these early teachings handed down orally from
teacher to teacher through the generations. Such a path reveals
the devotional nature of the teachings passed between these

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

great teachers - describing a loving, omniscient and generous
Supreme Being.

The Book of Tobit Chapter One

1:1. These are the teachings Tobit
the follower of Tobiel

the follower of Ananiel

the follower of Aduel

the follower of Gabael

a follower of Asael

from the congregation of Nephthali.

1:2. During the time of Enemessar
the king of the Assyrians

he was led captive

out from Thisbe

nearby the village

called Nephthali in Galilee

north of Aser.

1:3. Tobit have walked

all the days of my life

in the ways of truth and justice
aided my brothers

and my people

who followed me to Nineveh
into the land of the Assyrians.

1:4. Now when I was

in my own country

in the land of Israel

when I was young

all the followers

of my teacher Nephthali
fell from the temple

chosen by followers of Israel
so all the other followers
would make offerings there
where the temple

honoring the most High
was consecrated

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

and built for eternity.

1:5. Now all the followers

had together revolted.

And the followers

of the teacher Nephthali

made offerings to the idol Baal.

1:6. But I alone went often

to Jerusalem for the festivals

as ordained for followers of Israel
by an eternal decree

to make offerings

of first fruits and ten percents.

In increasing amounts

I offered these

at the altar of the priests

the followers of Aaron.

Ty: I gave a ten percent tithing
to the followers of Aaron

who ministered at Jerusalem.

I gave away another ten percent

each year in Jerusalem.

1:8. Then a third tithing I gave

to those I was obligated to

just as Debora my father’s mother
had instructed me

due to being orphaned

by my father.

19, Then when I came of age
and became a man

I married Anna whom I loved

and from her I brought forth Tobias.

1:10. Then when we brought

our belongings to Nineve
all my brothers

and those from my family
ate the food of the atheists.

Let, Yet I myself did not eat.
1:12. Because I remembered God
with all my heart.

Ts: Now the most High

had been merciful to me
and honored me before Enemessar
so that I became his purveyor.

1:14. So I traveled to Media
and left with Gabael

and gave ten talents of silver

to the brother of Gabrias

at the village of Rages.

1:15. Once Enemessar had died
his follower Sennacherib

reigned in his stead

but his house had trouble

so I did not go into Media.

1:16 Then during the days of Enemessar
I gave alms to many

of my brothers

and gave food

to those who hungered.

1:17. I gave clothing

to those who were needy

and if I saw any people dead

or thrown off the walls of Nineve
I buried them.

1:18. So if king Sennacherib

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

had killed anyone who arrived
after fleeing from Judea

I buried them privately

because as in his wrath

he had killed many

and many bodies were not found
when they were looked for

on behalf of the king.

1:19. Once one of the Ninevites
went to complain of me to the king
that I buried someone

and then hid them.

Knowing I was sought out

to be murdered

I withdrew in fear.

1:20. Then all my possessions were taken
and I had no possessions

except my wife Anna

and my son Tobias.

T:2 1. After 55 days had passed
two of his followers killed him

and they fled

to the Ararath mountains

and his son Sarchedonus

reigned in his stead.

He governed his father’s matters
and all of his affairs

including my brother Achiacharus
and my brother Anael’s son.

V2? After being invited by Achiacharus
I returned to Nineve.

Achiacharus was the cupbearer

and the keeper of the signet

and oversaw many matters

after being appointed by Sarchedonus.
He was my brother's son.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The Book of Tobit Chapter Two

2:1.When I returned home

my wife Anna was returned to me
together with my son Tobias

at the feast of Pentecost

the holy seven week feast.

A nice dinner was prepared

and I sat down to eat.

2:2.When I saw the abundance of food
I told my son

to give to whatever poor man

you find among our brothers

being mindful of the Lord

and then carry it to him.

2:3. When he returned he said:
Father I found one of our people
he was beaten up

and thrown out of the town square.

2:4. Before I ate anything
I got up and took him to his room
until the sun went down.

20. When I returned
I washed myself
and ate my food in sorrow.

2:6. Remembering Amos’ teachings he said:
Your feasts will turn into mourning
and all your mirth will become lamentation.

2:7. Then I wept.
As the sun went down.

I dug a grave
and I buried his body.

2:8. Yet my neighbors mocked me saying:
This man is not afraid

to be put to death for this

He ran away

and then he buried

the dead once again.

2:9. That same night

when I returned from the burial
I slept by the wall

within my courtyard.

I felt tarnished

and felt exposed.

2:10. I didn’t know

there were sparrows in the wall.
As my eyes were open

the sparrows pooped

right into my eyes

and my eyes were covered
over with whiteness.

I went to the physicians

but they couldn’t help me.
Thankfully Achiacharus fed me
until I arrived in Elymais.

2:11. Then Anna my wife
began doing her work.

a 12. When she finished the work
the owners paid her wage
and then handed her a goat.

2:13. Then when she came home
she began to cry.

I asked her:

Where did this goat come from?

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

Was it not stolen?
Because it is not lawful
to eat something that is stolen.

2:14. But she replied to me:
It was given as a gift

and is more than wages.

But I did not believe her

but asked her to ask the owners
and was upset with her.

But she answered me:

What about your charity

and your righteous deeds?

And consider your works.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Three

3:1.I was concerned and wept
and in my sadness I prayed:

3:2.O Lord, you are righteous
and all Your deeds

and all Your ways

are merciful and pure

and You are the true

and just judge for eternity.

3:3. Please remember me
and watch over me

and forgive me

for my errors and ignorance
and the errors of my fathers
who have erred before You.

3:4 For they did not
follow Your instructions
so this has damaged us

and imprisoned us to die

all for the wisdom of reproach
among all the people

among whom we are spread.

3:5. And yet Your judgments
are pure and justified
against me according

to my errors and my fathers’
because we did not follow
Your instructions

nor have we walked

in truth before You.

3:6.So therefore be just to me
and take my spirit

away from my body

so my presence here will dissolve
and my body will become earth.
Because it is better

to die than to live

for I have heard many lies

and have much sorrow.
Therefore instruct me

so that I might be delivered
from this distress

and go to the eternal place.
Please don’t turn away from me.

3:7. Then the same day
in the village of Ecbatane
in of region of Sara

the daughter of Raguel
was also shamed

by her father’s maids.

3:8. For she had married

a total of seven husbands

and they were killed by Asmodeus
who had a wicked spirit

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

before they slept with her.

Did you not know they said?
That he strangled your husbands?
You had seven husbands

but you were not given

any of their names.

3:9.Why would you beat us
because of them?

If they are dead

then go your own way

and not let us see you

or your son or daughter.

3:10. When she heard these things
she was very sad

so she thought about suicide.

But then she said:

I am the only daughter

of my father.

If I do this

it will only bring him shame

and I will carry his sadness

with me into the grave.

och, Then she prayed
leaning into a window:

O Lord my God

You are sacred

and Your holy and glorious Name
is sacred and praised forever.
May all Your deeds

be praised for eternity.

el. Now, O Lord, I focus my eyes
and turn toward thee.

3:13. And J ask:

Remove me from this earth
so I may no longer hear
of this shame.

3:14. Surely Lord you know
that Iam not wicked to humans.

O:15. And that I never corrupted
my name nor my father’s name
within the land I captured.

Iam my father’s only daughter
he had no other children

nor other family members

nor any son born to him

who could have married
someone like me.

But my seven husbands

have already died

so why should I live?

If this doesn’t please You

then I should die.

Give me some instructions

and take pity on me

so that I will feel no more shame.

S16: Thus both their prayers were heard
by the majesty of the Supreme Being.

3:17. Then Raphael was sent
to heal them both

and to cleanse Tobit’s eyes

and give Sara the daughter of Raguel
as a wife to Tobias

the son of Tobit

and to bind Asmodeus

who was a wicked spirit

because she belonged to Tobias
by right of inheritance.

During this time Tobit returned
and entered into his house

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

then Sara the daughter of Raguel
came down from her upstairs room.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Four

4:1.On that day Tobit remembered
the money he owed to Gabael
in Rages of Media.

4:2.So he said to himself:
I did wish for death

but should I not call

for my son Tobias

so I can leave him

the money before I die?

4:3. Then he called him, saying:
My son, when my body is dead

bury it in the ground

and don’t despise your honor

but honor her

for the rest of your life

and do what pleases her

and don’t give her sorrow.

4:4, Remember my son

that she protected you

when you were in her womb

so when her body is dead

bury her beside me in one grave.

4:5.Dear son

be mindful of the Lord our God

for all your days

and don’t let your will become wicked

or ignore His instructions.

Be righteous throughout your life

and don’t follow the ways of unrighteousness.

4:6. For if thou deal with honesty
your deeds will prosper
and you will be met with success

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

just as all who live justly will be.

4:7.Give charitably from your heart
and when you give charitably

let your heart not become envious

nor turn your face from the poor

or the face of God shall turn from you.

4:8.Give abundantly to charity

but give accordingly.

If you have just a little

don’t be afraid of giving just a little.

4:9. For you will stow away a treasure
for you, Tobit, for a time of necessity.

4:10. Because that charity will deliver
you from your death
and prevent you from darkness.

4:11. For charity is kindness
for all that give it
in the eyes of the most High.

4:12. Be wary of prostitutes my son
it is best to take a wife

who is a follower of your teachers.

It is best not to take a strange woman
who is not from your teacher’s congregation
for we are the followers of the prophets
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Remember, my son

that from the beginning our teachers

all married wives of their congregations
and were blessed by their followers

and these followers

shall inherit the land.

4:13. So my son

love your brothers

and don’t despise your brothers
the sons and daughters

of your people

by not taking a wife of them.
For pride is destruction

and a great trouble

and perversion is spoiled

when desired

for perversion is the mother of famine.

4:14. Don’t allow the works of any man
which has affected you

take hold of you.

But give to him from your hand

for if you serve God

you will receive blessings.

Be wise my son

in all things you do

and be wise with your words.

4:15. Don’t do to anyone

what you don’t want done to you.
Don’t drink wine to make you drunk.
And don’t let drunkenness

travel with you on your journey.

4:16. Give of your bread to the hungry
and of your garments to the unclothed

and according to your abundance give charity
and let not your heart become envious

when you give your charity.

4:17. Give out your bread
at the burial of the just
but not of the wicked.

4:18. Ask counsel from those
who are wise

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

and despise not the counsel
that is rewarding.

4:19. Praise the Lord

your God always

and ask Him to direct your ways
so all your ways

and your wisdom will prosper.
For not every nation has counsel
because the Lord himself gives
every good thing

and He humbles whom He will
and when He will.

Therefore my son,

remember my instructions

and don’t forget them.

4:20. So now | attest this
to those I promised ten talents:
to Gabael the son of Gabrias
at Rages in Media.

4:21. So don’t be afraid my son
that we will become poor.

For you have much wealth

if you revere God

and depart from all wickedness

and do what is pleasing to Him.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Five

5:1. Tobias replied and said:
Father, I will do everything
you have instructed me.

5:2. But how can I receive this money
since I don’t know him.

5:3. Then Tobin wrote instructions
that told him:

Find a man to travel with you
while I am still alive

and I will pay the money

so you can pay him

to go with you.

5:4. Then he left to find this man.
He found Raphael the angel.

5:5. But he didn’t recognize him
and he told him:

Can you travel with me to Rages?
Do you know where this is?

5:6. The angel answered him:
I will go with you

and I know the way well

for I have stayed there

with our brother Gabael.

57. Then Tobias said to him:
Wait for me
until I tell my father.

5:8. Then the angel told him:
Hurry up and do it.

So he went to his father and said:
Behold, I have found someone

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

who will go with me.

Tobin responded:

Bring him to me

so I can know which tribe

he comes from

and whether he is trustworthy
enough to go with you

5:9.So he called him
and the angel came inside
and they greeted each other.

5:10. Then Tobit asked him:
Brother, can you tell me which tribe
and which family you are from?

ol; The angel replied to him:

Are you wanting a certain tribe or family
or an hired man travel with your son?
Then Tobit replied to him:

Brother I would recognize

your family and name.

5:12. Then the angel said:
I am Azarias

the son of Ananias the great
and one of your brothers.

SDs Then Tobit said to him:
You are welcome, brother.

Please don’t be angry with me

because I asked about

your tribe and your family.

You are surely my brother

from an honest and good stock

as I know Ananias and Jonathas

sons of that great Samaias

because we went together to Jerusalem

so we could worship

and make offerings

and give tenths of the fruits.

They weren't attracted to the error
of our brothers.

But you my brother

have a good foundation.

5:14. But how much
shall I pay you?

What about a drachm a day
along with other necessities
like I do with my own son?

5:15. Surely if you return safely
I will add something more
to your payment.

5:16. Thus they were all pleased.
Then he said to Tobias:

Prepare yourself for the journey.
May God go with you.

And when his son prepared
everything for the journey

his father told him:

Go with this man

and may God

Who dwells in the sanctuary

bless you on your journey

and may the angel of God

keep you company.

So they both began their trip
together with the young man’s dog.

Oeld: But his mother Anna wept
and said to Tobit:

Why have you sent our son away?

Is he not the staff of our hand

who goes out and represents us?

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

5:18. Don’t be greedy

to add money to money
instead let it be used

to raise and feed our children.

OrL9; For what the Almighty
has given us to live on
will suffice for us.

5:20. Then Tobit said to her:

Do no worry dear lady

he will return safely

and you will lay your eyes on him again.

O21: For the good angel
will keep him company

and his journey will be successful
and he will return safely.

O22. So she stopped weeping.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Six

6:1. They went on their way
and arrived in the evening
at the river Tigris

and they lodged there.

6:2. Then the young man

went to the river to wash

and a fish leaped out of the river
and nearly devoured him.

6:3. Then the angel said to him:
Grab the fish.

So the young man grabbed the fish
and pulled it to shore.

6:4. Then the angel said:
Open up the fish

and remove the heart
and the liver and gall
and store them safely.

6:5.S0 the young man did this

just as the angel instructed him.

Then after they roasted the fish

they did eat it

then they both continued their traveling
until they came near Ecbatane.

6:6. Then the young man asked the angel:
Brother Azarias what use is the heart
and the liver and gall of the fish?

6:7.So he told him:

Touching the heart

and the liver

may disturb some wicked spirit.
So we must roast it

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

before it is offered
to prevent any disturbance.

6:8. As for the gall

it can be used as an ointment
for someone that is blind

to help him heal.

6:9. Then they approached Rages.

6:10. And the angel said to the young man:
Brother let’s lodge with Raguel

who is your cousin.

He also has an only daughter

who is named Sara.

I will look into whether

she can be given to you as a wife.

6:11. Because for you
she would be appropriate
given that she is also from your tribe.

6:12; And this maiden is fair and wise.
So therefore listen to me:

I will speak to her father

and when we return from Rages
we can celebrate the marriage.
Because I know that Raguel
cannot marry her to someone else
according to the law of Moses.

If so he will be dangerous
because the right inheritance
does apply to you

more than anyone else.

6:13. The young man answered the angel:
I have heard, brother Azarias
that this maiden has been given away

to seven men so far
who all died in the marriage chamber.

6:14. At this point Iam

the only son of my father

and I worry should I go with her

I will die as those others before me
because a wicked spirit must love her.
They don’t hurt anybody

except those who went with her.

So therefore I worry that I may die
and will bring my father and mother with me
because they will be too saddened

as they have no other son

who will bury them.

6:15. Then the angel said to him:

Don’t you remember the instructions

that your father gave to you

that you should marry a wife

who is from your own tribe?

So therefore hear me out

O my brother

for she shall be given to you to marry

and don’t worry about the wicked spirit

for tonight she will be given to you to marry.

6:16. And when you go to the wedding bedroom
you will take the essences of perfume

together with the gall

and it will create a smoke.

6:17. This will chase away the wicked
who will never return

but when you come together with her

rise up both of you

and pray to merciful God

who will have compassion for you

and save you.

Don’t worry

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

for she has been selected for you
from the very beginning

and you will keep her

and she will go with you.

She will also bear three children.
Now when Tobias heard these things
he came to love her

and his heart became

affectionately joined to her.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Seven

7:1.When they approached Ecbatane
they came to the house of Raguel
and there Sara met them.

After they greeted each other

she invited them into the house.

7:2. Then Raguel said to Edna his wife:
Look how this young man
Tobit likes my cousin!

7:3, Then Raguel asked them:

Where are you brothers coming from?
They answered him:

We are the followers of Nephthalim
who are now captives in Nineve.

7:4. Then he asked them:

Do you know our relative Tobit?
They responded to him:

Yes, we know him.

Then he asked:

Is he in good health?

7:5. Then they replied:

Yes, he is alive and in good health.
Then Tobias told him:

He is my father.

7:6. Raguel jumped up
and kissed him
then he wept.

7:7.Then he praised him and said to him:
You are the son

of an honest and good man.

But when he heard Tobit was blind

he was sorrowful and wept.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

7:8. His wife Edna and daughter Sara also wept.
Then they entertained them cheerfully

and after collecting food to offer

they prepared a meal for the table.

Then Tobias said to Raphael:

Brother Azarias, speak to us

about your journey

and what you are seeking to accomplish.

7:9.So he spoke with Raguel on this
and Raguel said to Tobias:

Now eat and drink

and be satisfied.

710, For it would be fortunate
if you could marry my daughter.
But I need to tell you something truthfully:

fAL, I have given my daughter in marriage
to seven different men

each of whom died

the very night they were joined with her.

But for now just relax.

Tobias then said:

I won't be eating here

until we have an agreement between us.

PAZ, Raguel said to them:

Then take her from here

as you wish

for you are her cousin

and she will be yours

and the merciful God

will bring you good fortune in all things.

TAe; Then he summoned his daughter Sara
and she came to her father

and he clasp her hand

and gave her to Tobias

as his wife, and said:

Okay you can take her
under the law of Moses

and bring her to your father.
Then he blessed them.

7:14. Then he called his wife Edna
and he wrote up a promise to his wife
and then folded the paper and sealed it.

ZAS: Then they started eating.
7:16. Then Raguel called his wife Edna
and told her:

Please prepare another bedroom
and take her in there.

TAT. Once she did what he asked her
she brought her there

and then she wept

and wiped the tears of her daughter

and said to her:

7:18. Be in good spirits daughter.
The Lord of heaven and earth

will bring you joy

even in your sorrow.

Be in good spirits my daughter.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The Book of Tobit Chapter Eight

8:1. After they ate
they brought Tobias in
to meet her.

8:2. And as he arrived

he remembered what Raphael said
and brought perfume essences
and mixed them with gall

and made an incense with it.

8:3. Then the wicked spirit
smelled the fragrance

and fled to the end of Egypt
where the angel tied him up.

8:4. Then they were joined

and spent time inside the room.
Tobias rose from the bed

and said to her:

My lady, get up and let’s pray
that God will have mercy on us.

8:5. Then Tobias prayed:

Praise be to You

O God of our teachers

praise be to Your holy and glorious Name.
Eternally let the heavens praise You

and all Your creation.

8:6. You created Adam

and gave him his wife Eve.

She was his partner

and after them emerged humanity.
You have said that it is not good
for humans to be alone

so let us make for him
a partner like himself.

8:7.So now, O Lord

I don’t take this lady for my desire
but rather to gain righteousness.
Therefore grant us the mercy

so that we may become old together.

8:8. Then she said together with him: Amen.

8:9.So they slept together that night.
Then Raguel arose
and went out and dug a grave.

8:10. And he said:
I am afraid that he may also be dead.

Sl. But then Raguel returned
and went into his house.

8:12. He then said to his wife Edna:
Summon one of the maids

and have her check

to see if he’s alive.

If he is not

then we should bury him

and no one will know about it.

8:13. So the maid opened the door
and went inside
and found them both asleep.

8:14. Then she returned
and told them he was alive.

8:15. Then Raguel praised God
and prayed:

O God, You are worthy of praises
by all who are pure and holy.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

Therefore let Your saints
and all your creation
praise You.

And let all Your angels
praise You for eternity.

8:16. You are to be praised

for You have made me happy

and I was not expecting that

but You have dealt with us
according to Your great compassion.

ol You are to be praised
because you have compassion

for two only begotten children

of their fathers.

Grant them mercy, O Lord

and give them health in life
together with joy and compassion.

8:18. Then Raguel instructed his servants
to fill the grave.

8:19. Then he kept the wedding feast
going for fourteen days.

8:20. But before the wedding ended
Raguel had promised him

that he shouldn’t leave

until the 14 days had passed

so he should not depart

before the 14 wedding days.

e221. And that he should
get half of his things

and go to his father for safety.
Then he can rest

when my wife and I are dead.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The Book of Tobit Chapter Nine

9:1. Then Tobias summoned Raphael
and he told him:

9:2. Brother Azarias please bring with you
a servant and two camels

and travel to Rages of Media

to visit with Gabael

and bring him the money

and take him to the wedding.

9:3. Because Raguel has promised
that I will not leave.

9:4. Yet my father counts the days
and if I take too long
he will be saddened.

9:5 So Raphael left

and stayed the night with Gabael
and gave him the writings

and brought him some bags

that were sealed

and gave them to him.

9:6. Then early in the morning
they both left together

and arrived at the wedding
and Tobias married his wife.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Ten

10:1. Now his father Tobit
had counted every day

and when the journey’s
expected timeline had passed
and they did not arrive

10:2. Tobit then asked:
Have they been arrested?

or is Gabael dead

and there is no one

that will give him money?

10:3. Thus he was very worried.
10:4. Then his wife said to him:
My son has died.

Because he hadn’t returned
she began to cry for him, saying:

10:5. Now I don’t care for anything
my dear son

since I have let you go

the light of my eyes.

10:6 Tobit replied and said:
Hold your peace

do not worry

for he is safe.

LOM: But then she said:
Hold your peace

and don’t deceive me.

My son is dead.

Then she went out every day
onto the path they traveled
and fasted during the day
and cried during the nights

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

as she mourned her son Tobias
throughout the 14 days of the wedding
that Raguel promised he would stay.
Then Tobias said to Raguel:

Let me take leave

as my father and my mother

don’t have to keep looking for me.

10:8. But his father in law said to him:
Wait just a little bit

and I will summon your father

and they will tell him

how all is well with you.

10:9. But Tobias told him:
No, let me go to my father.

10:10. Then Raguel got up
and gave him Sara his wife
and half of his possessions
servants, herds and money.

10:11. And he blessed them
then he sent them away saying:
May the God of heaven

give you a prosperous journey
my children.

LOL Then he told his daughter:
Honor your father

and your mother in-law

which are now your parents

so I may hear good things.

Then he kissed her.

Edna then said to Tobias:

May the Lord of heaven

restore you my dear brother

and grant that I may see your children

of my daughter Sara

before this body dies

so I may rejoice before the Lord.
Look, I will give my daughter

to you with a special trust

to keep her away from wickedness.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

11:1.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Eleven

After all this happened

Tobias left on his travels

praising God to give him

a prosperous journey.

He honored Raguel and Edna his wife
and traveled until nearing Nineve.

11:2.

Then Raphael told Tobias:

Do you realize dear brother
that you left your father?

11:3.

So hurry back to your wife

so she can prepare the home.

11:4.

And bring with you the ointment.

So they left to travel there
and the dog followed after them.

11:5.

Now Anna sat waiting

for her son to arrive.

11:6.

But when she saw him coming

she told his father:
Look, my son is coming
and the man ran out to greet him.

11:7.

Then Raphael said to Tobias:

I know your father wants to see you.

11:8.

So anoint his eyes with the ointment

and after rubbing it in
the whiteness will disappear
and he will be able to see you.

11:9.

So Anna ran outside

and hugged her son tightly
and said to him:

Finally I am seeing you my son
so now I am content to die.
And they both wept.

11:10. Tobit also went towards the door
but he stumbled
and his son ran up to him

yi bial He grabbed hold of his father
and he rubbed the ointment

on his fathers’ eyes and said:

Be hopeful my father.

12. And when his eyes began to sting
he rubbed them.

11:13. Then the whiteness fell away
from the corners of his eyes.

And when he saw his son

he hugged him tightly.

11:14. Then he wept and prayed:
Praised be to you O God

and may Your Name be praised forever
and praise be to all Your holy angels.

1119; For You have suffered me

and have had mercy on me

for now I can see my son Tobias.

Then his son arrived rejoicing

and told his father about the wonderful things
that had happened to him in Media.

1116, Then Tobit left to meet his daughter in law
at the gate of Nineve.

He rejoiced and praised God

and those who saw him marvelled

because he was able to see again.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

LTT, But Tobias gave thanks to them
because God was merciful to him.

And when he approached his daughter in law Sara
he honored her and said:

You are welcome here daughter.

Praise God who brought you to us

and may your father and mother be honored.
Then there was joy

among all of his brothers

who were there at Nineve.

11:18. Then Achiacharus and Nasbas
who was his brother’s son
also arrived.

Ao: After this Tobias’ wedding continued
joyously for seven days.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Twelve

12 Later Tobit summoned his son Tobias
and said to him:

My son, make sure the man

who went with you

was paid his salary.

And please pay him extra.

A222. So Tobias replied:
O father, I can afford

to give him half

of all I brought back.

125. For he has brought me back
to you safely.

He has taken care of my wife

and gave me money

and healed you as well.

124. So the elderly man told him:
That is fair to him.

12:5, So he summoned the angel
and he said to him:

Take half of all everything

we have brought back

and you can safely take leave.

12:6. The angel responded to them both, saying:
Praise be to God, for He is magnificent.

Praise Him for those things

He has done for you

as witnessed by everyone around.

We are honored to praise God

and exalt His Name

and we are honored to put forth

our service to God.

Therefore we won't hesitate to praise Him.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

127. It may be good

to keep the confidence of a king.
But it is greater

to praise the works of God.

Do that which is greater

and wickedness will not touch you.

12:8. Prayer is good

with fasting and charity

in righteousness.

A little done with righteousness
is better than a lot done

with unrighteousness.

It is better to give charity

than to store away gold.

1239: Because charity can
deliver one from death

and cleanse one from wickedness.
Those who give charity

will have their righteousness
filled with life.

12:10. But those who are wicked
become their own enemies in their life.

12:11. Certainly I hid nothing from you.
For I told you that it was good

but it is greater

to praise the works of God.

L212, Now when you wanted

Sara to become your daughter in law

I reminded you to pray to the Holy One.
And when you buried your dead

I was with also with you.

12313; And when you didn’t delay
to get up and leave your dinner

and bury the dead

your good deed was not hidden from me
and I was with you.

12:14. And now God has sent me
to heal you
and Sara your daughter in law.

12:18; I am Raphael

one of the seven holy angels

which present the prayers of the saints
and enter before the glory of the Holy One.

12:16. Then both of them were awed
and bowed down to the ground
in their reverence.

L217, But he told them:
Do not worry

for all will go well for you
and therefore praise God.

12:18. For due not to any favor from me
but by the will of our God

did I come here.

Therefore praise Him

in all your days.

T2319; All this time was I with you
yet I never ate or drank
and still you saw this vision.

12720; So therefore give thanks to God
as I will return to Him who sent me

but now write all these things

which have been done

into a book.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

1221. Then he rose up
and they saw him no more.

12. And they praised

the great and wonderful works of God
and how the angel of the Lord

had appeared before them.

The Book of Tobit Chapter Thirteen

13:1 Then Tobit wrote

a prayer of rejoicing that said:
Praise be to God

Who lives forever

and praise be to His sanctuary.

13:2. For He sees suffering
and has compassion.

He goes down to hell

and brings us up again.

Nor is there any one

who will refuse His hand.

1333. Praise Him to the atheists
you students of Israel.
For He has scattered us among them.

13:4. Declare His greatness there
and extol Him to all who live.

For He is our Master

and He is God

our Father forever.

13:5, And He will suffer us
for our wicked activities

and will have compassion again
and will bring us from all societies
from whom He had scattered us.

13:6. If you turn to Him

with all of your heart

and with all your mind

and deal honestly with Him

then He will also turn to you

and will not hide His face from you.
Consider how He deals with you
and praise Him with all your voice.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

Praise the Mighty Lord

and extol the eternal King.

In the land of my captivity

I did praise Him

and declared His might

and majesty to a wicked people.
Oh you wicked ones

turn to Him

and do right before Him.

If you do, will He not accept you
and have mercy on you?

ADs I will extol my God
and my soul shall praise the King of heaven
and shall rejoice His greatness.

13:8. Let everyone praise Him
for His righteousness.

13:9. O holy city Jerusalem
He will suffer you

for your people’s deeds

and will have compassion

for the followers of the righteous.

13:10. Praise be to the Lord
for He is honorable

praise the eternal King

so His temple may be built

once again with joy

and let Him bring happiness

to those who are captives

and Your love for those who suffer.

13:11. Many people travel far and wide
in the name of the Lord God

with gifts in their hands

even gifts to the King of heaven.

Every generation will praise You
with great joy.

13:12. Doomed are those who hate You
and eternally blessed
are those who love You.

13:13, Rejoice and be happy
for those who follow the just

for they shall come together

and shall praise the Lord of the just.

13:14. Those who love You
are surely blessed

for they shall rejoice in Your peace.
Blessed are those who are sorry
for what You have suffered

for they shall rejoice for You.
When they come to see Your glory
they shall be happy forever.

IBA: Let my soul
praise God the great King.

13:16. For Jerusalem will be restored
with sapphires and emeralds

and precious stone

and Your walls and towers

and battlements with pure gold.

13:17. Then the streets of Jerusalem
shall be paved with beryl and carbuncle
and stones of Ophir.

13:18. And all her streets shall say:
Halleluiah praise God.

Praised be to God

Who is exalted forever.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

The Book of Tobit Chapter Fourteen
14:1. Tobit completed praising God.

14:2. He was 58 years old
when he lost his sight

which was restored to him

after another eight years.

So he gave in charity

and his reverence for God increased
as he praised Him.

14:3. Then when he was older
he summoned his son

and the followers of his son

and said to him:

My son, fetch your followers
because I am old

and ready to depart

from this life.

14:4. Go to Media my son
for I surely believe

those things that Jonas the prophet
spoke about Nineve

about it being overthrown

and that peace shall be in Media
for a period of time

and that our brothers

will lie buried in the earth

within that good land.

And Jerusalem will be abandoned
along with the temple of God
inside it will be burned

and will be abandoned for some time.

14:5. But again God will have mercy on them

and will bring them again into the land
where they shall rebuild the temple
but not like the first

until it is fulfilled in time.

Then afterward they will return

from all the places of their captivity
and will gloriously restore Jerusalem.
Then the temple of God

will be built within it

forever as a glorious building

just as the prophets spoke of.

14:6. Then people will have a change of heart
and will truly revere Lord God
and bury their idols.

14:7. May all people praise the Lord
and may His followers confess God

and the Almighty will lift up His followers.
Everyone who truly loves the Lord God
shall rejoice with righteousness

and show mercy to our brothers.

14:8. So now my son
take leave from Nineve
because those things spoken of
by the prophet Jonas

shall surely come to pass.

14:9. But keep the teachings
and the instructions

and have mercy and honesty

and this will be your reward.

14:10. But bury me decently
and your mother with me.

But don’t hesitate regarding Nineve.
Remember my son

how Aman handled Achiacharus
who raised him

THE BOOK OF TOBIT

and how he brought him

from light into darkness

and how he rewarded him again.
Yet Achiacharus was saved

but the other had his reward:
Because he went into darkness.
Manasses gave in charity

and escaped the snares of death
which they had set for him.

But Aman fell into the snare
and then perished.

14:11. So therefore, my son
consider the purpose of charity

and how righteousness does deliver.
After saying these things

his spirit left while in the bed

being 158 years old.

Tobias buried his body with honor.

14:12. Then when his mother Anna died
he buried her body with his father’s.

Then Tobias departed with his wife

and their children to Ecbatane

to Raguel his father in law.

14:13. When Tobias was elderly
he buried his father and mother in law
and inherited their estate

along with his father Tobit’s.

14:14. Then he died at Ecbatane in Media
when he was 127 years old.

14:15 But before his body died
he heard of the destruction of Nineve
after it was overtaken

by Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus.

So before his death
he prayed for Nineve.

THE BOOK OF TOBIT